Chemo to the Rescue

When Charlie was first in the hospital we received so much material to help us along the journey. One of those items was the Chemo to the Rescue book as seen above. At the time, I considered the book mature reading to a 3 year old. But a few weeks ago Charlie picked it off the shelf and Chad and I began reading it to him every night. The story talks about a little boy named Kyle and what he goes through to battle Leukemia. It shows the hospital visits, port accesses, and chemo as superhero type things.

Charlie had his monthly chemo on Tuesday this week. His port accesses lately haven't been the best since the traumatic event back in August. But we read the Chemo to the rescue book almost every night for a week prior and when we practiced at home he was excellent. Sally went to access his port in clinic he didn't even cry this time!!! That was a SERIOUS milestone. He whimpered and fussed a bit when it was removed, but this month was the best port access EVER in over a year and a half. Thank you Chemo to the Rescue book. I firmly believe this story helped Charlie to accept what was happening and work through his issues.

We lent the book to his teacher Miss Joanne to read to the class to help his classmates understand why Charlie talks about things like being sick, chemo, tubies and hospital trips. One little girl came up to me as asked me "why does Charlie go to the hospital?" how do you answer a 4 year old to where it makes sense? Hopefully this book and the visit from the Children's Hospital Child Life Specialists this month will educate them and make Charlie feel more at ease in his new school.

Piano Class

Charlie switched schools at the end of August. When he left Primrose he also left his Piano Play time music class that the DaVinci Center sponsored every Thursday morning. Luckily I found a new piano class near his new Pre School. So Every Monday at 4pm Charlie and Mommy we head to the Music Box store and Charlie has his lesson with Miss Trista. He has taken to his own keyboard and even talks to us about high and low notes. So far I am impressed. If you are in Denver check them out. http://www.ginnyarnoldmusic.com/ We will miss our friends at DaVinci who were so wonderful for Charlie! They even had a fundraiser for him and Addison after the diagnosis. Hopefully when Charlie is older we can start up the karate classes with DaVinci. But for now I am looking forward to keeping him excited about music.

Ear Infections

Earlier this month it was Daniel with the ear infections. He spiked a fever and in less than 40 mins we were in and out of the doctor with antibiotics that cleared it up in no time. Is it that easy with a cancer patient... Nooooo!!!!
Two weeks ago during his normal chemo appointment we mentioned that Charlie was waking up in the middle of the night complaining of ear pain. They immediately sent us down to the ENT area of the hospital for the specialist, Dr. Allen, to take a look. Charlie was pretty excited by Dr. Allen's "telescope." As the picture above shows, he sat VERY still while the doctor removed the ear tube that had come out of his left ear and got stuck in the ear canal. Fast forward to this Weds... Charlie's school called me at 3pm letting me know that Charlie was hysterical about the ear pain. I went to get him and the poor kid had a nasty, drippy, red ear. The Right one! The one with a tube in it! What the...? We went to the doctor the next morning to get antibiotics both oral and ear drops. 2 days on meds and his ear still looks bad, but no fever, so that is a good sign. I get a little nervous about Charlie and his ears. He has had 3 sets of tube in his 4.5 years and one of the ear infections in May 2010 landed him in the hospital for about 4 days on IV antibiotics.

Pregnant Pictures

Pregnant Pics

Olivia took some fantastic photos for Tyler and Mary Alice's wedding last month. We all had family shots and then Olivia took a few pictures to capture how HUGE I am getting this time around with Ana. At this point I was only around 29 weeks. We will try to add to this album here towards the end. Luckily people say I still only look pregnant from the front. What gives it away the baby bump or the permanent dark circles under my eyes? (airbrushed out in these pics of course!)

Pictures of Ana

Friday morning we got our last view of Ana via ultrasound. we have profile pics of each of the kids in the womb and I am so surprised how they all look the same. When I saw the 3D image on the screen I immediately thought she looked like Daniel. I guess that is okay for now. D is a cutie :)